To maintain one of Peoria’s oldest monuments, experts are using an interesting tactic:

Tear it apart, into scads of pieces — then send it far, far away.

That’s what’s happening to the World War Soldiers and Sailors of Averyville Monument. It’s like sending Humpty Dumpty to a foreign specialist — except in this case, what comes back will be mostly new.

You might have noticed this memorial at a park at the base of Grandview Drive, just off Northeast Adams Street. I head there sometimes for lunch and/or naps, depending on whether I’m hungry, sleepy or both. Like most people, I suppose, I often noticed the 25-foot marker but otherwise paid it not much mind.

But it was a big deal back in 1919. At the time, the 3,800-some residents of Averyville — then its own village, outside Peoria city limits — decided to create the Patriotic Relief Association to help families suffering because of casualties of World War I (then, of course, called simply the World War). The group solicited contributions, some of which went toward building the memorial, which included four bronze tablets bearing the names of veterans of the war.

In 1926, Averyville was annexed by Peoria. And eventually, the monument area became part of the Peoria Park District.

A while back, I noticed the park district had placed ropes around the monument. I figured it would be undergoing some sort of rehab. As it turns out, the ropes were a matter of safety, says Bonnie Noble, park district executive director.

“We didn’t want anything to fall and hit anybody,” she said.

Over time, weather had taken its toll on the monument overall. But more recently, Mother Nature really took aim at an eagle atop the marker. The patriotic bird got zapped twice by lightning, then toppled by high winds, Noble said. So, the park district worried about anything else crumbling off and conking someone on the head.

After examining the memorial, the park district decided repairs wouldn’t hold. It would have to be replaced.

A hitch: The marker is mostly made of terra cotta, a clay-based material that few companies these days use to such a grand extent. In fact, Noble says, a search for the most reasonable deal pointed to England and a company called Shaws of Darwen, which has worked with terra cotta since 1897. The park district hired the firm to recreate the memorial.

A few weeks back, park district crews began taking apart the original, breaking it into 175 pieces. The chunks were gingerly packed into boxes, then trucked to New Jersey. After the pieces were reinventoried — you don’t want to try to put together a puzzle and find something missing — the load was shipped to England.

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Shaws then will use the original to make templates and craft new pieces. Those will be boxed, then shipped and trucked back to Peoria. Otto Baum restoration of Morton will erect the new monument at the old site — and affix the original bronze tablets, which remain in good shape in Peoria.

The entire project should be finished sometime in the fall, Noble says. Total cost: $214,000.

Also coming to Peoria will be pieces of the original that haven’t deteriorated. The park district might sell those as fundraising souvenirs.

“They’re from 1919,” Noble says. “Some people might consider them a treasure.”

PHIL LUCIANO is a columnist with the Journal Star. He can be reached at pluciano@pjstar.com, facebook.com/philluciano, 686-3155 or (800) 225- 5757, Ext. 3155. Follow him on Twitter @LucianoPhil.